MOUNTVIEW FILM ACADEMY RETROSPECTIVE #1 – THE BLACK ROOM (2008)
A rather indulgent post this!!
Between the years of 2008 and 2011, I did some screenwriting work for the Mountview FilmAcademy; a filmic extension of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Based in London, they would produce a number of student acting projects including many low budget short films. Notable Mountview Alumni include: Craig Parkinson, Eddie Marsan, Lois Chimimba, Connie Fisher, Douglas Henshall, Rebecca Trehearn and many more.
Writers would be shuttled in and given a remit to create short films using specified actors,locations and length of film. In 2008, I wrote a film called THE BLACK ROOM. It featured some talented actors and was directed by Jonathan Wolff. It’s a black comedy farce, concerning a writer who is struggling so much to write a period drama he starts to go a bit mad.
Watching the film back after ten years is interesting from a creative perspective. I actually think it works really well still and the story holds up despite the very low budget. Indeed, in places I still think the short film is pretty funny; echoing, on a very minor level, Charlie Kaufman’s meta-textual work in the film Adaptation (2002). Anyway, here it is:
My third directorial short film effort went into production this year and the weekend shoot took place in the last week of July 2018. Thus, a small crew and two cast members put all of our preparations and rehearsals into action, in order to produce a compelling work of fiction. I am now at the editing/score stage but in the meantime here are some cast and crew details, on-set photos and story pitch.
THE STORY
Sadie Cort is out for revenge. Her ex-boyfriend Stephen is coming to dinner and she has prepared a beautifully set candlelit table. The wine is uncorked and chilled before Sadie pours poison into it. As it drifts slowly to the bottom of the bottle, the doorbell chimes. Stephen is here but will he drink the wine? And why does Sadie want him dead? All will be revealed in the short horror and darkly comedic film Tolerance (2018), inspired by Roald Dahl, Inside No. 9 and Tales of the Unexpected.
CAST AND CREW
Written, produced, catered and directed by: Paul Laight
The low budget short horror film I completed in February 2018 is now ready for an online release. Please check it out here and feel free to share.
PITCH
SARAH TENNANT moves into the ‘perfect’ rental property; only to find she’s sharing with an unwanted flatmate.
INFORMATION
Flatmates (2018) is the latest short film from Fix Films. It’s a contemporary ghost story which warns of the perils of flat-sharing, unscrupulous Estate Agents and haunting loneliness.
Fix Films are a filmmaking collective consisting of dynamic duo Paul Laight and Gary O’Brien. Since 2005 they have been involved in the creation of many short films and promos. They self-produce, write, direct, edit and score their own films to a very high standard despite the low budgets. They are true independent filmmakers. Flatmates is Paul’s first directorial effort.
As well watching loads of films and television programmes I also write scripts and produce low-budget short films. This year and last was quite productive. My horror short Flatmates (2018) was shot and completed and having got a couple of festival screenings it still awaits an online release. In the meantime I shot a 90 second micro-budget science-fiction thriller called Don’t Trust Me (2018) which can be seen on my YouTube channel HERE.
Furthermore, my short film C’est Fini (2018) was produced by the Northern Film School and our Star Trek Fan film The Holy Core (2018) found a backer and is currently in pre-production. Finally, myself and actress Melanie Gayle decided to work together again to produce a script for another 90 second short film competition Depict! This competition screens micro-shorts at the Encounters Film Festival and so we shot MISDIRECTION (2018), with that in mind.
MISDIRECTION (2018) was shot in June in a day with a small crew; not that they are short but there was only four of us! The crew were great and so was my leading actress Melanie Gayle. My wife also provided wonderful voice work as the SAT-NAV. The 90 second version was edited and then submitted to Depict. Yet, I also had a slightly longer version cut and I think, despite the low-budget, it works well as a little twist-in-the-tale story that’s both funny and sinister too. There are obvious homages to the works of Philip K. Dick, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Black Mirror and Tales of the Unexpected. Here it is – hope you enjoy:
PITCH
A short, low-budget science-fiction comedy film with a twist.
SYNOPSIS
Valentine Ford is meeting her boyfriend, Dave, for dinner. However, her SAT-NAV has other ideas.
THE HOLY CORE – A STAR TREK FAN FILM – PRODUCTION UPDATE
Just a quick update to say that another short screenplay I have co-written has just been funded and has entered the pre-production phase. It’s a follow up to our Star Trek fan film Chance Encounter called The Holy Core.
Alas, the Kickstarter campaign did not reach its target but out of the blue a private donor gifted the full budget to enable Gary and Fix Films to make the production a reality.
So, we are very grateful to the donor and to everyone who contributed to the Kickstarter campaign and look forward to making The Holy Core.
It is an exciting script which we would describe as a thoughtful science fiction adventure story examining the values of faith and science set against a backdrop of religious fanaticism and romantic love.
LONDON SHORT FILM – 90 SECOND SCI-FI CHALLENGE SCREENING!
I’m writing this as a thank you to the London Short Film meet-up group who kindly screened, along with 15 other brilliant films earlier this week, my short film DON’T TRUST ME (2018).
DON’T TRUST ME (2018) is a 90 second short sci-fi thriller made for the LONDON SHORT FILM – Meet-Up Group competition.
Written, directed and edited by Paul Laight it starred the brilliant MELANIE GAYLE. She stars as a temporal scientist faced by her worst fears when an experiment goes wrong.
It was shot one fun Saturday in a few hours, for a budget of around £20 and a bag of crisps!! Please check out the film here:
The competition winner was brilliant too and called THE PERFECT CURE (2018) – that can also be seen here:
Do check out www.londonshortfilm.comfor film screenings and competitions and loads of fun stuff.
A couple of years ago I was involved in the writing and producing of a Star Trek fan film called CHANCE ENCOUNTER (2016) and it was a very satisfying project. For those of you that didn’t see it we are 51,000 views and counting. Here it is:
Now, we are boldly going where we’ve actually been before and making another Star Trek fan film called THE HOLY CORE. Please check out our Kickstarter campaign we’ve created and share and get involved here:
FLATMATES (2018): A SHORT HORROR FILM PRODUCTION UPDATE #2
Just a quick update on my short film production FLATMATES (2018), which has now entered the the final stages of post-production with editor Gary O’Brien.
I have a teaser POSTER:
And a TRAILER online for viewing too:
I will be entering the films for screenings and festivals throughout the year and will release it online in the next few months once the editing is done. Cheers for reading.
As you may or may not know I make short films. I have been involved in a number of short film productions and promos over the years. My work can be found at www.fixfilms.com. I usually work with the ultra-talented director, writer, producer, editor, special effects whizz and Star Trek expert, Gary O’Brien. Our working relationship is still going strong and our last collaboration Chance Encounter (2016) has now over 46,000 views on YouTube, so we’re happy with that. We are also planning a new Star Trek film currently called The Holy Core but you can check out Chance Encounter on this website: http://startrekshortfilm.com/
In between this though I decided, foolishly given my lack of directorial experience, to make my own short film from scratch. So, I have written, produced, catered, and now directed a low-budget ghost story called Flatmates. One of my creative aims for 2017 to was make my own film, and subject to the post-production process I have now achieved that. It will be edited and released in 2018 and sent to film festivals all over for consideration and screenings (hopefully). Will it be any good? Who knows? I will let those who watch it decide. What I do know is that I assembled a crack team of amazing talent and I thank them all for their sterling efforts.
We filmed the short script on the 30th November 2017, having also had an acting rehearsal day in October 2017 too. What I realised is that filmmaking and specifically directing is fucking difficult. I am much more at home writing and producing and making sandwiches. Co-ordinating the actors, crew and my ideas while directing performance was a steep learning curve and it made me admire the many filmmakers and their films I have watched over the years. Because put simply making movies is tough! However, thanks to the talented cast and crew who worked tirelessly I am confident I have a little film that tells an interesting story.
What I did learn is that to make a decent film you need a committed cast and crew; a good script; a bit of money to pay people and feed them; and above all else – YOU NEED TIME! I tried to do too much in one day and if the film is not as good as it could have been then it is not down to lack of talent and effort but down to not shooting over two days. I think this film will still be an atmospheric and scary horror story but the next short I plan to make will probably be planned even more. Indeed, while I planned Flatmates to hell, a two day shoot, rather than one, could have potentially enhanced the production.
Anyway, I would personally like to thank the following people for assisting in the production and certainly recommend their skills as actors and crew-members. Click on their names for their links / websites too.
Overall, Flatmates is my first proper directorial production and as an independent filmmaker it is pleasing to have ventured into such a positive creative experience. I certainly look forward to learning from the decision process and fully expect to get better and better the more productions I make. I am now logging the images and sound and prepping for the edit where Gary will then work his magic for the post-production process.
Flatmates – written and directed by Paul Laight – will be released in 2018
As I’ve written before I’m an avid short film viewer and maker. To tell an impactful story in a lesser period of time to a feature film can be a very difficult but ultimately rewarding experience. Plus, as a member of the audience and filmmaker myself I love seeing the different ways other creatives tell their stories in this medium.
‘Thrill of the Chase’ was curated by the London Film Festival and featured five shorts from Europe and I must say they were of the highest quality. I mean some of the budgets on these must have been very good because they were shot, acted and edited to an exceptionally brilliant standard.The first short, 1745, was a period pursuit drama. Two slaves, wearing big, colourful, tartan, traditional and unwieldy dresses of the Jacobean era, have escaped from a nearby castle and are chased by a steely Scottish Laird, hell bent on recovering his “property”. It’s incredibly well shot as the colour of the costumes countered the misty, green and vast mountainous landscapes up close and from a spectacular god’s-eye view. Overall, it’s a commendable story of two women escaping patriarchal oppression and abuse, set amidst an exquisite looking but harsh Scottish Highlands.
Next up was Oksijan. Set in the harsh contemporary now it also involved a set of characters escaping an oppressive regime. This time is was a group of Asylum seekers, adults and children, encased in the potential moving tomb of an articulated lorry transporting them from a refugee camp. Their deadly journey from Calais to the United Kingdom was made perilous by the air running out. A thrilling and suspenseful short it both raised the pulse and important issues in regard to the plight of human beings fleeing war torn countries.
After Scottish and English film productions we next had Hot and Cold from Poland. This was a very harsh film, thirty-five minutes long, and all shot in one take. Technically, it was incredible as the camera follows a young junkie mother throughout her day and her encounter with woman looking to get revenge on her husband. It’s a towering study of motherhood, grief and addiction which creates a claustrophobic nightmarish drama with the colour-bled bleakness of Polish council estates. I wasn’t sure the one-take was actually necessary as the narrative could’ve been pruned but it was very powerful nonetheless.
The final two films came from France and Germany respectively. Both reminded me of mini-versions of excellent feature films. The French film Les Miserables (not the Victor Hugo version) concerned cops on a dangerous estate and their heavy-handed dealings with gang-members. It’s well filmed and acted, containing the bruising feel of the classic French movie La Haine (1995).
Similarly, the final short was another drama but this time of the romantic kind. Till One Cries concerned two drug-addled millennials sharing a crazy night within an urban German milieu. It reminded me somewhat, without the shot-all-in-one-take business, of the brilliant crime-romance Victoria (2015) and showed the hedonistic highs and lows of two free-wheeling characters.
Overall, the programme was full of gripping drama and thought-provoking subject matter. I’d say the ‘Thrill of the Chase’ title was slightly misleading in my mind, as the films tended toward, not your classic genre thrillers, but rather more social realism and cinema verité than movie artifice. Indeed, it may have benefited throwing in a shorter, punchier thriller with an element of comedy to break up the incredibly heavy themes of the films presented. Nevertheless, this was a set of Premier League short films, in terms of production, performance and storytelling quality.
